This Baked Fish recipe comes with a Lemon Cream Sauce and is made in ONE baking dish! Yup, just throw it all in one pan, bake it, and you end up with a tender juicy fish in a creamy lemon sauce. The the juices of the fish mingles in with the sauce while it’s baking, as if made from the best fish stock!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Baked Fish
If the idea of baked fish conjures up the words pale, colourless and bland, then this one’s going to be a game changer for you!!
It’s an effortless 15 minute recipe one pan recipe where fish is baked with a creamy lemon sauce. It’s the sort of recipe you can make no matter how hectic your household is, or on a lazy Sunday night because it’s this easy:
Mix butter, cream, garlic, mustard and lemon;
Pour over fish; and
Bake – no flipping required.
And out comes this – tender baked fish fillets with a beautiful lemon cream sauce that’s perfect with fish!
This recipe will work for most fish, but is especially great for white fish fillets
When you bake fish, you just can’t get colour on it like you can with pan frying, and this means loss of flavour. So I like to either have a flavoured crumb, like I do for my other Emergency Fish recipe, Parmesan Crusted Fish (10 minutes, no messy dredging!) or a Sauce.
The Lemon Cream Sauce for Fish
This recipe really is all about that Lemon Cream Sauce for fish which is made in the same pan while the fish is baking. It’s a simple sauce which actually tastes pretty unimpressive when you first mix it up.
But once it’s baked and the fish juices mix in with it, it transforms into an incredible sauce. It’s basically like making a sauce with real homemade fish stock – just like fine dining restaurants do!
What this tastes like
The recipe name implies that the sauce is rich but actually, it is not! I describe it as kind of light and fresh, yet a bit creamy. You will be thankful there is a decent amount of sauce because it’s perfect for mopping up with bread or spooning over mashed potato!
What you need
Not very much!
White Fish fillet – any fairly flat white fish fillet is fine here, about 2 cm/ 4/5 ” thick or less. Any thicker, and the fish will take longer to bake which will thicken the sauce too much so you’ll need to thin it with a splash of water.
Escallot/French onion – those small onions, they’re more delicate than normal onions so they work well in a quick fish recipe like this. Use the white part of green onions as a sub, or really finely minced normal onion.
Dijon Mustard – sauce thickener. Can sub with other non seedy mustards.
Garlic – goes in almost everything in my world!
Cream – use heavy / thickened cream if you can, to help with sauce consistency. Low cal sub – evaporated milk. It’s not quite the same, but I’ve been known to use it when I’m trying to be “healthier” 😂
Butter – there is no substitute! 😂
Lemon – lime would work in an emergency situation. Sub: 1/3 cup white wine simmered to reduce to 2 tbsp, use in place of lemon in recipe.
Really QUICK Baked Fish Fillets
I say this is a quick recipe – and I mean it. It takes longer to heat up the oven than it does to prepare this recipe! Watch the video and see!
Dinner on the table in just 15 minutes. Tender, juicy fish with a creamy lemon sauce. A really fantastic way to make baked fish – it’s so, so good! – Nagi x
Try these on the side:
Everyday Cabbage Salad, big juicy Greek Salad
Fresh Garden Salad with Balsamic Dressing, French Dressing or Italian Dressing
Potatoes au Gratin, Easy Creamy Potato Casserole or Mini Potato Gratin Stacks
And more fish recipes:
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Baked Fish with Lemon Cream Sauce (One Baking Dish!)
Ingredients
- 4 x 150- 180g / 5 – 6 oz fish fillets , about 1.5cm / 1/2″ thick, skinless and boneless (Note 1)
- 50g / 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup cream, heavy / thickened (See Note 2 for sub options)
- 1 – 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- Salt & pepper
- 1 1/2 tbsp eschallots (French onion) , finely chopped (Note 3)
- Fresh parsley and lemon slices , to serve
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 390°F (all oven types).
- Place fish in a baking dish – ensure the fish isn’t crammed in too snugly. See video or photos in post. Sprinkle both sides of fish with salt and pepper.
- Place butter, cream, garlic, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a microwave proof jug or bowl. Microwave in 2 x 30 sec bursts, stirring in between, until melted and smooth.
- Sprinkle fish with shallots, then pour over sauce.
- Bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until fish is just cooked. Remove from oven and transfer fish to serving plates. Spoon over sauce, and garnish with parsley and lemon wedges if using.
Recipe Notes:
- salmon (too fatty, sauce splits)
- very thin delicate fish like flounder, Dover Sole
- small whole fish like sardines or mackerel
Nutrition Information:
Originally published October 2016, updated with much needed new photos, brand new video and updated writing. No change to recipe, it’s a firm reader fave that I wouldn’t dare change!
Life of Dozer
Yesterday was a day of experimenting with slow cooked curries. So there was plenty of downtime spent doing THIS!
And from when I originally published this recipe in October 2016:
From a little camping trip last weekend – getting smashed in the waves at beautiful Jimmy’s Beach, NSW Australia. He’s a sucker for punishment, that one. I really have to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t get swept away by a rip!!
Absolutely delicious!
I made this recipe 2 times. I love all your recipes !
I made this using large lemon sole fillets , it’s absolutely delicious, I added the grated zest of the lemon also , don’t hesitate to make this
Perfection 👌. I followed the recipe to the T and used Barramundi 😋
Love love love this recipe. But will make 1.5 serving of the sauce next time to keep the mash potato happy (& me).
The sauce is the best, I used frozen basa fillets so cheap and not fishy, even froze a couple of portions and gently reheated careful not to overcook. Paired with Nagis buttered corn rice which freezes great too. Such a great dish light and eeeeasy love it!
Wow. I’ve got Dinner but hadn’t ever noticed this recipe. I made it tonight with tarakihi. It was stunning and so quick and easy. Thank you Nagi x
Quick easy and absolutely delicious!
This was so easy and quick and quite delicious. I served it with a side of potato-sweet-potato mash and some steamed green beans and asparagus. Used frozen barramundi which I defrosted before it went in the oven.
Perfect quick midweek meal that feels indulgent yet light, healthy and also pretty affordable.
Yummy. Added crab meat on top. Took a whole new level!
AMAZING! We used halibut and it turned out delicious! So quick and so few ingredients. A definite keeper!
Easy to make and delicious! Perfect midweek feast 🙂
About the 8th time I’ve made this & generally use gummy shark. My husband hates lemon but loves this. It’s that good. 🙂
This is my all time favorite recipe. I’ve used a slightly cheaper type of fish, and it wasn’t that great. Went back to tarakihi (Deep sea perch?) Delicious!
This was the best recipe I’ve tried. It is so easy and quick to make. My husband says it’s a keeper. I used Pink Ling fish. It was the perfect fish for this.
Forgot to leave a 5-star rating! Very important…
WOW – so easy and delicious! This dish made me feel like I was at a 5-star restaurant, except it cost me 5 bucks and I could eat it in my PJ’s 😉 I served mine with mashed potatoes and sauteed swiss chard. YUM – thanks Nagi!!
Thank you Nagi – super-speedy & delicious, just perfect!
This was absolutely delicious. I doubled the recipe and it was eaten by everyone in my family, even those who normally turn up their nose at fish. Had it with rice, steamed broccoli and peas. Will DEFINITELY do again.
There just aren’t enough stars to award. This left me feeling like an accomplished chef. Absolutely delicious!
Absolutely divine. Restaurant quality. We just made this and deviate a little by adding dill and rosemary but it was heavenly. We had it with asparagus, mashed potato and blistered cherry tomatoes, and cannot WAIT for the leftovers tomorrow. You’re right, the shallots (or plan onions in our case) DO add something!